For decades the Land Rover has been an iconic part of the classic African safari. The four-wheel drive vehicles were once the only way to travel through the rugged countryside while following the massive herds of wild animals that inhabit that continent. Soon, an electric version of the Land Rover Defender may be available, allowing for an even more eco-friendly approach to spotting animals.

At the 2011 INDABA Travel and Tourism show, which ended yesterday in South Africa, Axeon, a company that specializes in lithium-ion batteries, unveiled a concept vehicle which was co-developed with Jaguar Land Rover South Africa. That vehicle had its usual 2.4 liter diesel engine replaced with a drive system powered by an Axeon’s high-capacity battery that is designed to perform in extreme conditions and in rugged environments. Axeon says that its testing shows that the electric Land Rover does very well in those conditions, while still having three times the range of a typical game drive.

Of course, the most exciting thing about this prototype is that it has zero emissions. The standard Land Rover Defender spews out 295 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven, which makes it a less than stellar performer in terms of being ecologically friendly. Considering that it is often used in some of the more spectacular, yet fragile, environments on the planet, only adds to the concern. Axeon’s model is completely carbon neutral however, which heightens its appeal amongst tour operators across Africa, many of which specialize in theecotourism trade.

The electric Defender has an additional side benefit for travelers as well. It is completely silent, which means that it doesn’t disturb the animals on safari either. While going through a series of rigorous tests at the Land Rover Gerotek proving grounds, the battery powered version was able to consistently get closer to the wildlife than the traditional model powered by a combustion engine, something that will probably be highlighted in the travel brochures of early adopters.
While the electric land rover has been well received by tour operators, it may yet be some time before we see them in the field. Still, it is nice to envision a day in the not too distant future when travelers can take a safari that has no impact on the environments they are visiting, protecting the natural resources there for future generations to enjoy as well.

Source: Fox News

PETALUMA, CA – February 1, 2011 —

Kazak Media, a Petaluma Web Design and Internet marketing company announced today it has recently become Sonoma County’s first Google AdWords Certified Partner.

The Google Adwords Certified Partner recognition is part of Google’s Adwords Professional program, which certifies companies as being qualified to manage AdWords accounts Under Google’s certification program, companies employing Google Qualified Individuals may achieve Google Certified Partner status. In order to become a Google Qualified Individual, one must pass two Google certification exams regarding AdWords policies, account management, strategies and best practices.

For more information on Kazak Media’s PPC Campaign Management services visit: http://www.kazakmedia.com/services.html or view the company’s Google Certified Partner profile page at: http://goo.gl/4wwE2

About Kazak Media

Kazak Media is an award winning web design and Internet marketing firm based in Petaluma, CA. For over 5 years, the company has been providing a complete line of Web services that have yielded positive returns on investment for small-to medium-size businesses across the nation. Kazak Media is a Google AdWords Certified Partner. To learn more about the services Kazak Media provides please visit: www.kazakmedia.com.

The new Evoque (Starting at $45,000) earlier in the summer and now Land Rover has officially unveiled the production car that we’ll be seeing in showrooms next year. The new Evoque is essentially a Range Rover GT, they’ve packed in a fuel-efficient 2.0 liter turbocharged Si4 engine (Ford’s Ecoboost Four Engine) that delivers 240 horsepower to the asphalt, getting you from point a to point b quickly and with a lot more fuel left in the tank. Gadget-wise you’ll find a whole host of technology from a 825 watt, 17 speaker Meridian sound system to a Surround Camera System that features five digital cameras that give you a 360 degree view around your car from your touchscreen display. Take a look at some of the photos below.

Range Rover has traditionally been the luxo SUV brand with the highest commitment to off-roadability. That makes the Evoque crossover-coupe all the more of a departure. Its design is definitely style first, utility second, and its dynamic emphasis leans very much toward on-road dynamics. That just shows how the world is changing. But the luxury angle is very much intact.

The Evoque will be a third model for Range Rover, fitting below the stately, eponymous RR and the Range Rover Sport. It goes on sale mid-2011 at prices running about $40,000-$50,000. A five-door with the same wedge silhouette will follow half a year after.

The Evoque is a dead ringer for the Land Rover LRX concept from the Detroit Show in 2008. The sheetmetal surfacing has been rounded a little, but other ‘concepty’ aspects-proportions, stance, 20-inch wheels, even most of the external jewelry — have survived pretty much intact.

Under the hood, there’s a new 240-hp version of Ford’s Ecoboost four. Given its direct gas injection, twin variable valve timing, and twin balance shafts, it should serve up highly competitive performance and economy numbers, while suffering little refinement compromise over a six. And it weighs 90 pounds less than the Freelander’s I6.

Because the concept-car look has been carried into production, earlier reports that the Evoque is a top-hat job on the Freelander 2 platform are wide of the mark. The subframes and much of the floor plan are new, so that the engine sits lower (for better dynamics) while ground clearance is higher. The rear floor is new, otherwise back-seat occupants, who sit lower, would have had no foot space.
To save weight, there is far more high-strength steel in the shell, and a magnesium cross-car beam behind the IP. The suspension arms and wheel knuckles had to be redesigned to allow a wider tread and sufficient articulation with the 20-inch wheels. Engineers took the opportunity to change the material to aluminum to cut more weight. The hood and roof are aluminum, and the fenders and tailgate plastic.

Source: Motor Trend

Nov. 28–The California State University, Chico, School of Business ranks No. 10 among 500 universities with exceptional business schools that have a strong national reputation and international links.

The annual rankings are done by Eduniversal, a Paris-based educational consulting organization that ranks business schools in various categories worldwide.

The Chico business school moved up from 21st last year. In 2008, it was 50th.

Rankings are based on a combination of academic factors, including a vote among deans at business schools around the world.

“We work hard to develop and deliver outstanding programs, and we know the importance of building productive local, national and international partnerships,” said Willie Hopkins, dean of the CSUC School of Business.

22% of capital city office space vacant

Sacramento had a 22 percent office vacancy rate in this year’s third quarter, according to global commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

The company noted that the recent decline of McDonough Holland & Allen PC, once Sacramento’s second-largest law firm, resulted in the loss of 60,000 square feet of office space in the Bank of the West Tower at 500 Capitol Mall, in downtown Sacramento.

Local “tenants are still in a general strategic holding pattern,” according to the Jones Lang LaSalle quarterly report.

The long-term national outlook was more rosy.

“We believe 2011 will be the year that the private sector takes the baton and starts to drive growth,” said Ben Breslau, a Jones Lang LaSalle researcher. “Corporations are flush with cash and will continue to spend and start to hire.”

Source: By Mark Glover, The Sacramento Bee, California

PETALUMA, CA –  AUGUST 11, 2010

A Petaluma high school baseball coach and sports bar owner is facing felony charges after being arrested in connection with what is being called a large-scale illegal gambling ring in South San Francisco.

James Selvitella, 52, was arraigned Friday in San Mateo County Court with four alleged accomplices on charges they ran an illegal sports wagering operation out of a San Francisco apartment and a South San Francisco fire station, where Selvitella was a battalion chief.

He and the other defendants are due back in court on Aug. 26 to enter pleas to the charges. They are out of custody pending the hearing. If convicted of all charges, Selvitella faces a maximum of 3 years in prison.

The betting operation handled hundreds of thousands of dollars in wagers at a time, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Evidence uncovered during one search showed receipts of $470,000 in wagers in one day, he said.

“It was a pretty big operation he was a part of,” Wagstaffe said. “That level of gambling is something we don’t see too much.”

Selvitella on Wednesday referred calls to his attorney, Jim Lassart of San Francisco, who didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Selvitella, his wife and two other couples in 2006 opened Beyond the Glory sports bar on North McDowell Boulevard in east Petaluma. He also is a junior varsity baseball coach at Casa Grande High School.

On the restaurant website, it states the couples opened a “sports bar for the whole family” after years of “frustration of trying to find a place for adults to hang out with their kids.”

Wagstaffe said he wasn’t certain whether the operation extended to the Petaluma bar, or whether proceeds from gambling may have financed the restaurant.

In July, the city’s planning commission unanimously approved a new 7,500-square foot building for a larger Beyond The Glory at Old Redwood Highway and North McDowell.

The investigation into the betting operation began a couple of years ago, Wagstaffe said, after the fire chief learned that a firefighter had fallen $30,000 in debt to the alleged racket.

Selvitella was fired in February 2008, according to court records. He is challenging his dismissal in federal court.

Wagstaffe said Selvitella solicited wagers from his fellow firefighters and would collect the cash from gamblers and deliver winnings. He would use his battalion chief’s phone, on average nearly three times a shift, to call in the bets and used city computers to research bets and follow games, according to court records.

The other defendants are Michael Cooper, 50, of San Francisco; William Kirkpatrick, 63, of Redwood City; Louis Kristovich, 71, of Millbrae and Christopher Mesa, 64, of Corte Madera.

They face felony charges of conspiracy to operate a bookmaking operation. Selvitella was the lead “salesman” who solicited bettors, Wagstaffe said.

SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Earlier today I received an email from LinkedIn telling me to try their new service called LinkedIn DirectAds.  I knew it was only an amount of time for LinkedIn to either partner with Google or create an some sort of in-house advertising model.  They have 66 million members worldwide, 32 million of them residing in the United States.  LinkedIn says, “for example you can target 7.9 business decision makers, 5.5 million high tech managers, 1.3 million small business, and 4.2 million corporate executives.”  You will be able to refine your search to target your EXACT demographic.

LinkedIn has made it relatively simple to create your first Ad.  Take a look below, I will guide you through the process.

Creating a New LinkedIn DirectAd

STEP 1 – Create Your Ad Campaign

Step one is the longest of the 4 steps, especially since it is vital to create at least 1 ad variation so you can at least split-test the effectiveness of ad1 and ad2.  LinkedIn allows you  to create up to 10 different ad variations under one campaign, all with different text and images if you’d like.  They also allow you to have a 25 character title and up to a 75 character description spanning no more than 2 lines as well as a field for your display and destination URLs.

STEP 2 – Target Your Audience

Step 2 is all about targeting your website’s audience.  They have a pretty cool way of showing you exactly how many people you are targeting.  For instance, this  screenshot shows you that there are 66,266,528 possible people that I can target with my campaign.  Let me refine my target market to demonstrate.  I run a web design firm who is looking to acquire new clients so I am going to go through the methods of refining my search to target my ideal client in LinkedIn Direct Ads. I know that I mainly design websites for small businesses so I am only going to check the boxes that would define my target client.  Take a look at the number of potential people that I now can target after filtering out the ones that generally wouldn’t buy my service, it is only 18,508.

STEP 3 – Set Your Campaign Budget

LinkedIn allows you to choose your payment method, either Pay Per Click (CPC) or pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM).  In my specific case LinkedIn says that my default bid is $4.91, with a suggested bid range between $4.91 – $5.95; Minimum Bid: $2.00.  The CPM choice says my default bid is $3.05, with a suggested bid range between of $3.06 – $3.52; Minimum Bid: $3.00.  You are allowed to select a daily budged , no lower than $10 per day, defaulting at $25. Once you have chosen your daily budged the last step is inputting your credit card information.

STEP 4 – Billing Information

Of course, the last step in the process is the billing information.  They ask for all the general billing information and also provide a helpful FAQ sidebar on all step throughout the process.

Take a look below and read what LinkedIn said in their blog post:

As the world’s largest and fastest-growing professional network, LinkedIn is a fantastic place for businesses of all sizes to reach professionals with targeted messaging.

That’s why today we’re announcing LinkedIn DirectAds, a new online product designed for LinkedIn members who want to market their business, product, or service to other members. While large brands and companies will be best served by contacting our sales team, DirectAds lets LinkedIn members purchase audience-targeted text advertising on the site for their businesses of any size. For example, maybe you’re a tax accounting firm looking to reach young professionals, or you’re a design agency looking to find potential new clients in key industries, or maybe you’ve just written a new book on a career or business topic. You can use DirectAds to get the word out to your target customers.

Using DirectAds, members can specify the audience that will see their ads (based on seven different criteria), write targeted messaging for their products, and pay by credit card – Premium Account holders even get 50% off. The whole process takes just a few minutes. We’ve opened up the product to a large number of our members, so you can try it out for your own business at https://www.linkedin.com/directads .

Like existing ads on our site today, DirectAds advertisements are intended to be non-obtrusive messages that accompany the overall experience of LinkedIn. Note that you won’t see any additional ads with the introduction of this product and every DirectAds ad includes the advertising member’s name and profile data, so you’ll know who is trying to reach members like you.

Google may be looking into buying a flight search engine, reports Bloomberg.

Google is currently in talks with the Massachusetts-based software company ITA. The transaction could cost Google upwards of $1 billion. Bloomberg’s source noted that, though they are currently discussing plans for a buyout, the negotiations have not been finalized yet.

ITA is a developer of flight software that helps users make online travel arrangements. Its software is currently used by Orbitz, Microsoft, and several other airlines.

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information, and ITA does that for travel,” Henry Harteveldt, an analyst at Forrester Research in San Francisco, told Bloomberg.

The takeover could have serious ramifications for travel search engine optimization(SEO). The digital marketing firm Efficient Frontier found that Bing was making serious gains in the travel sector – in 2009, Bing increased its travel sector market share by 160 percent. Microsoft currently uses ITA for Bing’s travel search engine. The travel sector generated $88.4 billion last year, according to Bloomberg.

Land Rover announced the released of the special edition Range Rover Sport LE. TheRange Rover Sport LE is going to be available only in 250 vehicles and will be equipped with a 4.2 liter Supercharged V8 engine and Land Rover’s permanent four wheel drive system coupled with Land Rover’s proven Terrain Response system.

Land Rover Press Release:

LAND ROVER OFFERS A SPECIAL VERSION OF ITS HIGHLY POPULAR RANGE ROVER SPORT

Following the huge success of the Range Rover Sport in the U.S. market, Land Rover North America is delighted to announce that a special version known as the LE will go on sale immediately.

The Range Rover Sport LE will be a very exclusive model with only 250 available in North America from August. This special version is equipped with flush-fitting front and rear bumpers, an extended rear roof spoiler, body-colored lower side panels, a new rear exhaust treatment, tread strips and 20-inch Stormer wheels which add to the vehicle’s visual appeal.

Inside the Range Rover Sport LE, there is a Luxury Interior Package that includes a cold climate option, adaptive front lighting, premium leather seats, hand-polished oak wooden trim and a center console cooler box. Carpet mats are also included. Furthermore, an audio visual entertainment system for rear seat passengers and adaptive cruise control are also included.

“Land Rover is delighted to offer a limited edition Range Rover Sport for those customers who want something a little different,” said Finbar McFall, Vice President of Marketing, Land Rover North America. “With many exclusive features and options, the Range Rover Sport LE will appeal to those consumers who want a level of personalization that reflects their taste and style.”

With the legendary on- and off-road prowess of the 2008 Range Rover Sport, the LE features a 4.2-liter Supercharged V8 engine. The permanent four wheel drive system is coupled with Land Rover’s proven Terrain Response™ system to provide the go-anywhere capability associated with the current Land Rover range.

The Range Rover Sport Supercharged equipped with the Limited Edition Package is priced at $81,450.

Apple may drop Google as its primary search engine, if the latest software update for the iPhone is any indication.

Last Thursday, Apple unveiled a new software update for the iPhone, iPhone 4.0 OS. One change that SearchEngineLand.com reported was that the Google search button in the iPhone mobile web browser was replaced by a generic search button. The search still goes through Google, but SearchEngineLand.com speculates that this could mean that Apple is looking to break away from Google in the update’s final release, which could have huge ramifications for search engine optimization (SEO).

Google and Apple have been on less-than-friendly terms ever since Google entered the smartphone market with the Android. By using Google as their default mobile search engine, Apple has allowed Google access to iPhone users’ search statistics and preferences, which could potentially be used to further the development of the Android.

Dropping Google for another search engine wouldn’t necessarily help Apple, though. Bing and Yahoo, the two leading search engine competitors of Google, are both tied to Microsoft, which also has a competing smartphone. Analysts have predicted that Apple will create its own search engine so it doesn’t have to rely on competitors, but that could take a few years to develop.